littlelulu01

Sorry. I was thinking about the November and December, 2016 sailings on the Spirit. I know that the first class tickets are already no longer available for Avios because people have already grabbed them. Currently booking is available through December 9th, 2016. The first class mileage bookings are notoriously difficult to get, especially the nonstop SEA to LHR. A couple business class seats are still available with Avios on British Airways.

Hopefully booked passengers will find out about these changes soon. Airfare is bookable on both these sailings now. For those wanting to book with miles in order to snag the first or business class seats flights may already be locked in. I'm sure many passengers who are already booked were on the cancelled Epic which they replaced with the spirit. wonder if it has something to do with the port construction that caused celebrity to cancel Istanbul overnights a couple months ago. Another poster has a post yesterday about the changes but I think their ports are different than what you are reporting.

Weren't these sailings to embark in Istanbul? That really is a bummer for those who already purchased airfare. I needed to purchase airfare with miles and after the whole mass cancellation I was too leary to book one of these replacement sailings. The epic which was originally scheduled to embark/debark in Barcelona was a much safer bet. When they replaced with the spirit I ended up giving up my incredible deal and booked for earlier, September dates. That way if I got burned again I would at least have backup choices. I currently have three deposits down on three different lines. Figured they can't all cancel. All that mess and now more changes. I would not be surprised if further alterations are made. Especially with Haifa. DCL just cancelled Kusadasi as a port stop on the Fall 2016 sailing. They are offering $1000 to passengers who were booked. A little better than the $50/$100 NCL gave for that mess.

Thank you. Our b2b is booked as one cruise vs. two. I know it won't hurt to ask for a latitude credit after first half and will try but won't count on it. Pricing was considerably less if booked as one. Last b2b earlier this year it was much less to book as two separate and we got double perks. It's also nice to book b2b seperately if looking to upgrade. Seems like often the prices per week see more drastic reductions whereas the b2b booked as one doesn't. I assume this is because the same cabin availability on both legs goes down. Next cruise is not until next year but I've only seen prices go up since I booked. it's a popular cruise I don't anticipate any major reductions.

You will get it, was what put us over on our first of the b2b.

Thank you. I thought I read somewhere that aarp discount disqualified you for the extra latitude point given for 9+ months booking. Last cruise we gave up the extra latitude point because the cruise perks and price decrease closer to sailing were too good to pass up. This time I think we locked in a good price further out and don't anticipate any big price drops. I wonder if you lose the extra latitude point for 9+ months booking if you want to upgrade prior to sailing.

Do you know if you also get the extra Lat point per night if booked 9+ months ahead and have the AARP discount? We have a b2b and will make next level 2nd leg but only if we get the extra latitude point.

Does anybody know the cost of a Daily spa pass on a Port Day? Thanks

I think it depends on sales of weekly passes. Our med trip was port intensive and passes were not popular. They offered discounts $99/week and day passes for I'm thinking around $30. There's only a certain number of passes sold per sailing. If they sell all of them then no day passes are available. They do have spa treatment specials on port days so if you wanted to purchase a treatment and use spa before or after you can do this on the Jade too.

The area you can share consists of the large hot tub and tile loungers. I find the tile loungers very comfortable. Some are warmer than others. There were no regular chairs in the area though so just those two things to share. The men's and women's only areas have the steam room, sauna, rain showers, better hot tub, cold plunge pool and padded loungers but you can't experience those together. I posted pictures of the spa area in a Jade review. If you search on the Jade tab then go back to about June you should find it. The Pearl spa was nicer because the coed pool had major massage jets that felt incredible on my back and padded Loungers and more coed space. The Jade tile loungers face the bow of the ship and its a pretty nice spot to be. Also if you google NCL Jade spa there's a short video someone posted of coed area.

Some of the taxes and port fees are charged on a "passenger berth" or "tonnage" basis, so the charge for a ship calling at the port is constant. What changes is the number of passengers this charge is divided amongst, so this theoretically could change hour by hour as more guests book or cancel. Some of the port fees are based on operational decisions like whether the ship takes fuel or puts garbage off. The cost of the fuel or garbage removal is not part of the taxes and fees, that is operating expense. However, some ports require pollution measures while fueling, and security screening for taking garbage ashore (seriously), so this can vary between legs of cruises or between the same port on different cruises.

 

I can't say why the taxes and fees would vary between a B2B and the same two cruises booked separately, unless it has to do with CBP, and whether they charge per passenger for clearing the ship at disembarkation (and I don't know if this is the case or not), or the embarkation/disembarkation port charges a fee (since it is their facility and their personnel) based on the number of guests checked through, and the in transit B2B cruiser doesn't get charged this.

Thank you. That makes sense.

Is Jade scheduled for Dry Dock in the next couple years?

I'm pretty sure its scheduled for 10/8/16.

There is no fuel surcharge. What the poster saw is the Hawaii Gross Excise Tax.

If the taxes and fees charged to a cruise line change why shouldn't the fees paid by the passenger change?

Perhaps you know how it works and can explain. What I'm confused about is how taxes and port fees can change up and down sometimes on what seems to be every couple days. I was watching Alaska sailings last year and the closer sailing got the taxes and port fees changed considerably every couple days even though the stateroom price I was tracking was the same. Do the ports change fees that often? I assumed that the cruise lines would have locked in port fees for x amount of time vs leaving themselves or customers up to whatever the ports feel like charging on a day to day basis.

For my med sailing I'm tracking price and saw the price had jumped last week. It was the taxes and port fees, not the fare that changed. Another thing I find confusing is how the taxes and port fees are so different if booked as two separate cruises vs one b2b. If the cruise fare is the same then the taxes and port fees should logically be the same but that's not the case in most of the cruise prices I track. Not just NCL. I track Celebrity and HAL too and see the same phenomenon. I assumed that the fare you pay has nothing to do with taxes and port fees because the taxes and port fees in a haven suite are the same as the inside stateroom.

We checked a few sporadic dates in 2016 and they all had it.

 

The one we looked at was 3/26 for the 7 day.

Our booking engine (travelport - part of Apollo) shows taxes of $112.93 per person and fuel surcharge of $123.61 per person (this was a party of 2 in lowest inside)

 

Going to NCL's website it shows taxes and fees combined for 2 of $473.08. The prices come out exactly the same. However the fuel surcharge amount on a different date - 11/26/16 - is about half what it is on this March cruise.

 

Oh, and there's also the fact that the fuel supplement is being added but it doesn't meet NCL's posted explanation of when and why they might add it:

 

Oil is in the low $40's

The taxes and port fees on other sailings (non pride) are lumped together but they are always changing and for the life of me I just can't figure out how/why. I get that the lines have different contracts with the ports and so different fees for same ports. Example: a quick search for Alaska out of Vancouver and I see the Sun taxes and port fees are $317 and Disney magic is $178. NCL changes the fees pretty regularly though. Mediterranean cruise taxes and port fees for a two week b2b were $167pp booked about a month ago. Today the same ship, same sailing is $235pp. If only wanting to book 1/2 of the b2b taxes and port fees are much higher. $166 for the first half. It's not a new phenomenon and not exclusively NCL. All the lines except Disney change the fees pretty regularly.

That fuel charge is a real kicker though. Would not surprise me in the least to see it. Another poster commented about selling the breakaway long after they knew about a change. NCL also sold rooms on 1/3 of their fleet up till the day prior to canceling them in August. Many people had to pay quite a bit more to rebook on a similar replacement sailing. Anywhere else that's called bait and switch but with NCL apparently not. Passengers on cancelled Epic sailings were given a whopping $50 onboard credit to rebook similar dates on board the Spirit and they're charging twice the price with less perks. If NCL can redeploy 1/3 of the fleet and screw over thousands of passengers I'm sure they can implement a fuel surcharge too.

Dates I was tracking: NCL Sept 24, 2016 and October 1, 2016. They don’t seem to be offering it as a two week cruise today but last week they were and the cabins were lower if booked as a b2b vs two separate cruises.

9/24/16 last week/this week prices in Euros: Inside: 779/905. OV: 1259/1385. Balcony: 1539/1665. MS: 1659/1785. Suite: 3159/3105.

10/1/16: Inside: 829/955. OV: 1319/1445. Balcony: 1709/1835. MS: 1869/1995. Suite: 3159/3285.

In comparing booked separately on US site the fares are less on the German site when factoring in perks and exchange rate across all categories but not a ton less. The fact that today I don’t see the option to book as a B2B makes the German site much higher across all categories.

Upsell will be rare/non existant.

 

Requests on price drops maybe.

 

there will be cancellation penalties(check the german T&C S.6).

http://www.ncl.de/nuetzliche-informationen/allgemeine-reisebedingungen/

 

Final 30 days.

 

 

Don't forget if you book far out you need to factor a potential change in the exchange rate, savings can be wiped out/get bigger.

Thanks. I remember in the past UK site was often updated first when changes occurred. So I'm wondering if the drink package offered on the German site which includes coffees may be a test or indicator of an upcoming change to the package offered in the US. That would be very exciting.

I really like how Celebrity's classic package includes coffees, canned soda... It makes it more appealing for a cabin of occasional drinkers or if only one drinks alcohol the package can still benefit the cabin. If not it would still be really nice to add an expanded soda package.

A little leery about rebooking on the German site. Will have to see what the savings actually are next week.

So how does it work with booking? Call the German site? Do they have different cancel fees? What about last minute paid upsell? My cruise is coming in at a couple hundred less but if gratuity and coffees included it becomes quite a bargain .

What brought me to NCL: freestyle concept, no suit and tie required for husband while on vacation. Haven experience and Alaska on the Pearl with Glacier bay.

What keeps me with NCL: Itineraries and sail dates that work with schedule. excellent service, the staff we've encountered seem to enjoy their jobs and I see them getting time off, going on excursions and having fun. We've had the best room stewards of any cruise line with NCL and overall entertainment better than other lines. Nice pillows and beds/bedding even in inside staterooms. Clean ships. Food good enough. Aren't forced or strongly encouraged to share a table with others in main dining room.

What has made NCL lose my business: Price. We like some of the extras and when I add up all the extras that I would want vs what I will not need to pay with celebrity or HAL then HAL and Celebrity come in at less out of pocket. Since they have both relaxed their dress code this makes those two lines much more attractive. Our last HAL cruise we did not need to pay for a spa pass or Haven suite because the pool was covered, not too crowded, had wonderful padded loungers and good music. We didn't need any speciality dining because the included dining was really good....

Changes I like: I like the new itineraries but strongly dislike the way the recent redeployment was handled and how random the displaced passengers were either treated well or poorly. I think the idea of prime rib and lobster in the main dining room at an up charge is not a bad idea and gives more choice. Same thing about the room service fee. $7.95 does not seem unreasonable for an expanded menu choice. I don't mind the increased DSC. Sure I dislike how it was done along with the speciality dining 18%... But the staff I've gotten to know really liked their jobs and felt NCL treated them well. If I have to pay a little extra for that I'm ok with it. If the staff were not happy it would show pretty quickly and there would be more reports on cc.

Changes I Dislike: the inconsistent and ill explained changes. All areas of the website should be updated when changes are made. Terms should be clearly stated and when they change they should change on the website across all areas. It wasn't until I was affected negatively by a cruise cancelation that I read my cruise contract and realized the cruise line can and does do what no land based us company could ever get away with. Ncl is the worst of the bunch when it comes to this type of behavior. The way some booked guests were discarded while others given very fair treatment with the recent mass redeployment gave me a level of distrust in them as a company.

I've cruised mainly RCCL and NCL, and usually takes NCL if Alaska or Europe, but now I've booked X for Alaska instead of NCL. My initial plan is NCL.

 

Simply because I don't like the nickle and diming of NCL lately since they changed CEO.

 

What really turned me off is they made you pay the gratuities for the beverage package...while for X the classic package includes gratuities.

 

And if you compare the rest of NCL's freestyle perks, they are all inferior vs X.

 

200 OBC only for excursions in NCL vs 300 OBC to spend anywhere for X, unlimited internet for X vs only 250 mins for NCL

And with the $200 perk it's $50 max credit per port, no embarkation or debarkation port so basically $25 off per person first two in a stateroom for max four ports on a 14 night sailing. Since the excursions are about double the cost of booking on your own not the best perk to choose.

If the free internet perk is chosen on a 14 night sailing it amounts to a whopping 17.85 minutes of free internet per day. But no activation fee charged like with the other packages.

The speciality dining perk for a 14 night sailing includes 6 dinners total and need to pay up charges for certain items along with the $39 gratuity fee on the free package plus an additional 18% for any up charge item you want.

The $7.95 room service fee isn't much fun either.

"Already purchased airfare to Venice and so if we keep the celebrity booking will need to transfer to Rome on embarkation day which might be a little stressful. "

 

Have you looked into that? It sounds more than a little stressful.

 

I love Italy but it's not the most well run place around.

I know. The train service is good though and strikes are usually planned. We arrive in Venice day prior but still doesn't sound ideal. I booked airfare with miles business class on British airways and don't want to give those hard to get seats up on a TA flight.

I haven't sailed any of the ncl mega ships but can tell you we have enjoyed all of our cruises onboard the jewel class ships. Our first NCL cruise was a Haven suite. Husband had sworn off cruises because he had no intention of ever wearing a suit and tie to dinner while on vacation, listen to announcements about the next bingo, diamond or art sale. He also couldn't stand smoky casinos. We fell in love with NCL Haven suites.

The differences as I see them; with NCL suites you don't get as much nickel and diming. For example they include perks and gratuity associated with the perks so even if you don't drink much its no big deal to still get the UBP because grats are paid. The butler and concierges we've had have been excellent.

Food and entertainment can be very subjective so won't comment on that. I will say we haven't sailed Celebrity yet but have sailed Royal Caribbean, HAL and Carnival and am assuming Celebrity would be on par with HAL.

The common areas on Jewel class ships don't have teak furniture and decking. No padded loungers, no covered pool. I've found some common areas sometimes closed for an art auction... Evening entertainment in bars consisting of perhaps 15 dance party D.J. type music also at pool. So,e days entertainment was really good some not so much. sometimes a live band sometimes dj dance party music that even my 21 and 24 year olds thought it quite annoying. Gone to the Atrium only to find a mass sale on gold by the inch or a teeth whitening seminar, other times an excellent band playing. Fitness areas putting on a seminar on how to lose 10 pounds vs the room open for those who want to actually work out. Now I'm sure all lines partake in this type of sales. I really didn't see NCL as being any worse than HAL in this regard. In the Haven you are pretty much sheltered from it.

We've also sailed in regular balconies, insides and ocean views on ncl and found service still excellent. Their staff appear very happy. Bartenders seem stressed out with so many now receiving the UBP as a perk but all in all the staff have been the best we've experienced on any line.

Things that really get me about ncl; They are constantly changing their fees and perk inclusions. In the last year the DSC has gone up twice. Currently $13.50 pppd in non suite and $15.50/day in a suite. They've also started charging 18% gratuity on all speciality dining, the beverage package and unless you are in a suite you'll pay these fees even if taken as a perk. Example; our 14 nt cruise for two will incur a $323 bev charge and a $38 dining charge for six dinners and even though these were given as perks. Soda cans, water bottles, smoothies, speciality coffees and fresh squeezed juices are not included in the package. They are switching to a la carte in speciality venues, adding pay items in the main dining room so if you want prime rib or lobster in the free dining room you'll pay extra. If you want certain items in speciality venues they also attract a fee on top of the fee plus an additional 18%. The inclusions and exclusions change on pretty much a monthly basis. What used to be included entertainment may very well attract a fee from booked to sail time. I think that's where a lot of the negativity on the NCL boards stems from. They've also instituted a $7.95 room service fee.

Perhaps most glaring; If NCl cancels your cruise due to a charter or redeployment they will typically offer you a whopping $50 obc for rebooking. That's a hard pill to swallow for myself. They recently redeployed 1/3 of their fleet. My Haven suite booked at a great price with tons of perks was canceled the day after I gave them a $1500 deposit. If I wanted to rebook a suite on the replacement ship same dates the fare would double! Since I was in a suite it was $100 obc as compensation. That total disregard is what has me looking around for alternatives.

You should be able to book daily or weekly passes for the sauna and steamroom. And that will include the lovely heated loungers (and a great view).

Thanks. I definitely need to do a little research. I chose the perks of daily service fee and unlimited internet. We're not drinkers so didn't think the beverage package would benefit us but after seeing that you don't have to pay for the gratuity on the package and that it includes coffees, waters, smoothies and cans of Coke I think I may switch from Internet to beverage package. The Internet is much less too on celebrity. Ta includes $310 obc in addition to the two perks. Will use that for spa or Internet.

I'm keeping the Jade reservation for now. The Silhouette sails from Rome and the Jade is sailing from Venice. Already purchased airfare to Venice and so if we keep the celebrity booking will need to transfer to Rome on embarkation day which might be a little stressful.

This would be our first Celebrity sailing. Have enjoyed NCL cruises in the past on their smaller ships to Europe and Alaska but I'm sure celebrity is a step above and the price point is MUCH less than NCL. A regular balcony on NCL was $2500 more than Silhouette C3 balcony and that's before adding in all the extra fees NCL charges.

The $25 deposit today is the reason I booked. I was shopping deals for our 2016 med cruise. If you count in the cost of dsc, ubp grats and UDP grats that I would pay on my NCL Jade 14 night sailing, I'm only paying a couple hundred more for a 14 night sailing on celebrity silhouette but I'm going from an inside stateroom on the Jade to a C3 balcony on the Silhouette.

With NCL the beverage perk has an almost $400 gratuity fee even if picked as a perk. Free DSC is not a perk option so it's an additional $378 for DSC with two people inside stateroom on NCL.

The Jade spa passes will cost about $4-500 extra and is the only way to have access to a steam room or sauna. Not sure if Celebrity has access to a sauna or steam room without spa package?

We were also going to need to purchase an Internet package on the Jade. It's $29.95/day for unlimited. It's also offered as a perk with NCL but only 250 minutes for two week cruise which isn't enough.

Another strange pricing when I called Tuesday to get the pick 2 for 14 days out of San Juan, PR next November. Got the aarp discount plus the pick 2. My PCC first booked it as one 14 day cruise at a price of $1,439 each for an inside on deck 9. I told him I want 2 7 day cruises, and the price went down to $599 each for a total of $1,198 each in the same cabin. As 2 cruises we get double the platinum benefits. One of the many things I am thankful for today. Since we also got to use two cruise rewards, we saved another $100, for total savings of $582 plus double the platinum benefits by booking b2b instead of one cruise. PPC said he had no idea why there was such a price difference. Every time I have looked at b2b or one cruise it has been cheaper to do b2b with no problem getting the same cabin on both legs. Probably booking 11 months or more ahead of time helps.

Great deal. If you picked Internet you'll get two 250 min packages. If you picked SDP it will be 8 days vs six. Along with plat dinners you could pick 250 Internet one leg and SDP one leg and still have 4 SDP dinners plus the two extra.

Last time I did this I was able to make some changes prior to cruise on which perks to pick. TA let me switch around and mix and match even after the perks were no longer on offer/had changed. I was able to switch perk out for any perk that was on offer when I purchased cruise. Not sure if they still let you do this but they did allow on my cruise earlier this year.

My upcoming b2b if booked separately is coming in considerably higher vs if booked as one but it sure can pay to check.

Do you know if you still get the extra lat point for 9+ mos if booked with AARP rate?

Does the offer to switch to another sailing at prevailing rates and retain your current perks mean that you can switch to a different sailing and keep your original price paid? If so that is a very generous offer!

On august 3, 2015 NCL canceled my 2016 Epic sailing the day after I purchased it. Their offer? The chance to rebook a replacement cruise similar dates and itinerary on a different ship for three times the price! If booked in a balcony they gave $50 obc. $100 obc if booked in a suite.

Thanks - yeah two days ago that would have worked (before I knew we didn't qualify for the "Pick" bonus). But the prices have jumped now...

 

So I don't think we'll whine too much about it - we just won't drink much until the last leg!!

Doesn't hurt to keep checking when you get the emails. Also remember to factor in the gratuity charge when figuring in total cost. A two week cruise with UBP and SDP will tack on $180 per person to the fares but it's only the gratuity that you are paying.

If you want to get a quick price check, pick the internet and shore excursions as your choices and then you can accurately compare price you paid for a no perk cruise.

My last cruise was booked over a year in advance for a May cruise. and then January- March they had some really great perk packages that I was able to take advantage of by canceling and rebooking as two separate cruises.

The other advantages of booking separate cruises is that you may be able to upgrade for little to no difference last minute. Odds that a single stateroom will be available all three weeks are much lower.

I have my upcoming cruise booked as a single cruise for 2016 for now because the price for booking separate weeks is considerably higher but I plan on keeping an eye on price and breaking it up if price drops. The rebooking can be done without penalty until final payment.

I figured I'd mention it in this thread as well...

 

It annoys me that the "Pick 2" (was "Pick 1") promos are only up to 16 days. We're planning to do a 21 day + 10 day cruise and are SOL for the 21 day leg.

Not sure if your cruise can be booked as more than one but we booked a b2b last year as two separate cruises. OBC from first leg carried over to second leg and we stayed in same stateroom... I think it was a little bit extra but at the time we were able to pick two perks per leg and mixed and matched them.

If you did this on say two or three separate sailings vs one sailing you could pick UBP and SDP one week, internet and UBP the next...

It was much easier to price out the difference on my own and compare to my current booking to make sure it benefited me prior to bothering to call and wait on hold only to find out it would not be cost beneficial to make the change.